Red Red Wine

I might still be recovering from the Red Wine Party.  It is hard to tell.  The hit of the party was a Malbec that Jason and Blaine selected.  I think Jason knows more about wine than the rest of us put together.

Sparkling cocktail conversation by Wendy and Tara.  Baby Owen enjoyed milk, not red wine.

Later in the evening we broke out the game "The Game of Things".  There should be a two drink minimum for this game.  It is hilarious.  The game poses innocuous questions like, "What item should not be stored in a china cabinet?"  My favorite answer to this one was Wendy's "your children".  Another was "What rule would you impose as dictator?"  My answer, "mandatory cullotes day".  The rest of the answers were too blue to report.

 

Dead soldiers.  The Barefoot was actually a wine we won at a fundraiser recently.  We killed it off after we finished the fancier bottles.  Then we moved on to beer and mixed drinks.  It seemed wrong, somehow, to open a white. 

Cloudy With a Chance of Cannoli Dip

I was really, really looking forward to doing this party outdoors, but it is ominously cloudy and it is still 89 degrees and humid.  Mother Nature:  1, Shindig Spree:  0.   But I can make this work indoors.  The menu is strawberries with cannoli dip, tortilla chips with pepper dip and fresh salsa, honey mustard pretzels, and pesto and white peach pizza.  Oh, and lots of red wine. 

I was hoping to have this as the centerpiece on the low table outside.  It is too big to set on the table indoors so I had to put it in the foyer. 

Warmer...

Warmer for a couple of reasons: 1) It looks like I am going to get clear weather Friday--clear, hot weather; and 2) I am getting closer to the look I am going for with the tables but I am not there yet.  I want to do different foods featured on upturned wine boxes.  I think I am going to do peach and tomato pest pizzas and strawberries with cannoli dip for sure.  I will do at least one more savory treat.  I want to steer away from the traditional wine and cheese paring.  Suggestions? 

Weather Dependent

It has been a rainy week. I am hoping that we have a cool and clear Friday night so I can have the Red Wine Party outdoors.  If the weather is not cooperative we will still have the party indoors.  I am a little flummoxed about how to serve food outside. I have some nice glass domes and cloches and my inclination is to put those over the platters.  I know The Martha often features outdoor dinners in her magazines but whenever I think of serving food outdoors I flash back to the warm mayonnaise-based salads at all of the picnics of my youth.  It is a miracle we made it to adulthood. 

As for ambiance the starting point was my friend Tony's tablecloth, borrowed for this occasion.  I like the reds in it.  I am also envisioning a low table surrounded with a smattering of mismatched wicker chairs.  It is a bit hard to get a sense of scale, but this giant three-wick candle is surrounded by buckeyes in a punch bowl.  I would like to use it for the centerpiece on the table.

Small Victory!!

For anyone doing the math I have completed 13 parties which means I am one-quarter done with the Shindig Spree project.  Huzzah!  I am about to embark on another two party week.  The first party of the week was suggested by my friend, Wendy.  She wanted to do a red wine party.  Guests were asked to bring a bottle of their favorite red and I will provide some snacks and ambiance.  If your crowd is particularly wine savvy you could do categories of red:  Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc.  I would like very much to do the party on the patio by our pond.  I hope the weather will cooperate. 

   

Here is the newest addition to our pond.  He/she does not have a name yet.  Apparently, it is very hard to determine the gender of a turtle.  If anybody has a suggestion for a nice androgynous name for our little friend let us know.  He is a painted turtle.

 

Got the World on a String

I borrowed the martini serving ware and about 20 martini glasses from my boss, Pat.  He has a very good standard cranberry martini he makes that is 2 parts cranberry juice to one part Triple Sec and one part Vodka.  He premixes it in a pitcher and shakes it up as needed.  It is very good. Aside from the spread below my guests provided a cheese tray, Utz Crab Cake Chips (Mad Men!), marinated artichokes, and a pizza dip.  Lots to eat. 

The star cookies.  The silver sugar was not so silver, as I mentioned, but they went quickly.

The kids enjoyed rootbeer, orange, and black cherry floats.  I felt pretty strongly that I did not want to do mock or virgin drinks for the little ones.  Let them be kids, not aspire to be imbibing adults.

Strangers in the Night

Well not strangers, my friends and family.  Here is the bar all ready to go.  I did end up putting spray frost (I dug it out of my Christmas decorations) to make the glass more opaque. 

Not quite as fancy as a night club but the "Reserved" sign lets you know we mean business.  I used an extra cocktail shaker to hold the bouquet.

Truth be told, I did not sample all seven contender martinis as I had threatened.  And the winners are.....

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

The Martini Bar Party is tomorrow night and I find myself unsure about the final line up of drinks and food.  I will be making three types of martinis.  I am currently working with a field of about seven candidates.  I do know for sure that I am going to do a cucumber, basil, and lime martini.  It takes a ginger simple syrup.  I will strain the large pieces of ginger out, of course.  There are two or three versions of this recipe, I am not sure which one I am going to decide on.  I guess time for some serious research.  I will post the recipes of the winners.

The foods, just appetizers, are still a bit up in the air as well.  I found a tiny star cookie cutter and decided to make some sugar cookies for a sweet treat.  Some will be frosted, some just sprinkled with black or silver sugar.  That's right---silver!  Although in truth, it kind of reads like white.  Will taste testing the seven possible martini candidates make these decisions easier?  There is nothing that can possibly go wrong with this plan.

     

The Lighted Bar

Stained glass stars got me thinking about light tables.  I wanted to make my own light table inspired bar.  I am still messing around with it.  I think I will need a set with more lights and I might also switch to green cords that will blend into the countertop.  My friend Yvonne, who I borrowed the window from, also suggested a stained glass window she made.  I imagine you will see that at my upcoming wine party.  

Stardust

I took a stained glass making class about 15 years ago.  It was one of those deals where I bought all of the supplies, made projects like crazy for about a year, and then moved on.  I had a vision of making enough stars for a Christmas tree but only got to three.  Stained glass is very precise work.  Precise work is not my strong suit.  My three stars have served me well for many years.  I take them out for Independence Day and string them with patriotic ribbon.  I take them out on New Year's Eve and string them with blue.  A Martini Party means a thin black ribbon.

I bought 27 of these big stars at a dollar store to hang from the ceiling hooks in the dining room.  The only problem is they are two feet across.  This drops my 8 foot ceiling down to about 5'10".  It does not exactly say 'inviting" to my taller friends.  I ended up putting three of them over the kitchen counter.  I am still considering putting all of them up for New Year's.  Is it uncouth to ask people to crouch at a party?  I am rationalizing by thinking that generally we will be seated at the table so they will not interfere too much.

Ring-a-Ding-Ding

And for my next party---a Martini Bar Party!  The color theme will be black and silver and incorporate lots of flashy stars:  old school Vegas fantastic.  I am approaching this party casually but it would be fun to go all out with black bow ties for the gentlemen and little black dresses with elbow gloves for the ladies.  I have four martini recipes that I will be making (more to come on that) and an assortment of appetizers.  The music will be provided by the Rat Pack, of course. 

Freudian Cocktails

There was a moment late, late, late into the night last week when I was gluing googly eyes on peanuts and grinning madly. I think I would have frightened an uninformed onlooker. In her fantastic party book "I Like You" Amy Sedaris glues eyes onto peanuts to class up a party. My friend Tony informed me that googly-eyed peanuts were all the rage in his parents' craft store in the 70's complete with Dymno tags indicating, "We are all nuts here!" For my friends Nathan and Wendy's birthday party this Friday I am doing a Freudian theme. And the nuts are doing double duty: 1) a nod to the not-so-nice name for mental illness, and 2) the, um, phallus. Generally, I am pretty well aware of the line that dictates taste and decorum. This Friday I will be ignoring it as I step firmly over.